Jury in Hot-Car Case Hears of Mom Frantic

(CN) — The mother of a Georgia toddler who died in a hot car on June 18, 2014, was “frantic” and “confused” when she learned her 22-month-old son was not at daycare when she came to pick him up, a former teacher testified Thursday at the trial of the boy’s father. Justin Ross Harris, a former web developer for Home Depot, is accused of intentionally leaving his son Cooper in a hot car to die. The Little Apron Academy is located on the Home Depot headquarters campus in south Cobb County, Georgia, and is only open to the children of Home Depot employees. On day six of Justin Harris’s trial, several current and former teachers of the facility testified about their memories of the Cooper Harris, and how they viewed the relationship between father and son. Keyatta Patrick, an early childhood teacher at the school said Justin Harris attended special events at the school and “was very much involved with his son.” Azure Hawkins, one of Cooper’s teachers, said that Harris “wasn’t the kind of dad who would just drop and run.” “He would get him settled,” Hawkins said. Another teacher, Michelle Gray, said that Cooper learned how to say her name and called her “Shell” the night before he died. Harris smiled at the defense table. Gray said on the day Cooper died, Leanna Harris showed up in the late afternoon to pick up her son. “She was confused,” Gray said. “She looked frantic.” Gray said she was surprised that Cooper wasn’t there that day. Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark called it a day at 11:44 a.m. The trial will resume Friday morning.